Emily Spivey has gone from Saturday Night Live to, um, Wednesday Night Taped, but the former High Pointer is no less excited about this latest development in her television career.

Spivey, a 1989 graduate of T. Wingate Andrews High School, is the creator of NBCs highly touted new sitcom, Up All Night, starring Christina Applegate, Will Arnett and Maya Rudolph. The show -- which is executive produced by Lorne Michaels, also of Saturday Night Live fame -- will debut Wednesday evening after Americas Got Talent.

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The press so far has been really supportive and enthusiastic, Spivey said during a telephone interview from her office in Los Angeles.

I think people like the cast, and theres been a lot of interest because of Lorne Michaels, too. Of course, people love to tear things down, so Im always waiting for the other shoe to drop. But its been fun so far.

Up All Night is an irreverent look at modern parenthood, loosely based on Spiveys own experience as a career-first woman who had a baby after establishing her career.

The idea came from me and my husband Scotts life, she said, referring to her husband, film editor Scott Philbrook.

We had our first child later in life, after we already had our careers -- we lived that childless-couple lifestyle for a long time. So the show is kind of based on how it was for us, with him working as an editor after our son, Rowan, was born in 2009. Its about trying to balance a hectic job with a baby. I was so set in my ways  my career had always been my baby -- and now Ive got this other person Ive got to think about.

In the show, Applegate (Samantha Who?) stars as Reagan Brinkley, a successful talk-show producer who is determined not to compromise her career for the sake of motherhood. Arnett (Arrested Development) plays her stay-at-home husband, Chris, and Rudolph  one of Spiveys best friends from Saturday Night Live  plays Reagans boss, a self-obsessed (and childless) talk-show host named Ava.

So far, six episodes have been written and four have been filmed, Spivey said.

Weve got 13 (episodes) to figure it out, so itll air through Christmas, and then hopefully well get picked up for nine more, she said.

Spivey knows, though, that the pressure for the show to do well  and sooner rather than later  is intense. And its even tougher for sitcoms, she said.

I think because of the Internet, and because there are so many more TV channels, theres just not that feeling of must-see TV anymore, she said.

Theres not as much advertising dollars, so people are not willing to give a sitcom the chance it mightve had 15 years ago. The first season of Seinfeld, nobody was watching, but they gave it a shot and the show got its footing. But now, if a shows not working, they cant afford to let it go on.

That obviously begs the question: Why take a chance on a sitcom when its future is so fragile?

Thats a very good question, Spivey said. ...I love sitting in the room and pitching jokes. I love writing comedy  its all Ive ever wanted to do.

Spivey watched Saturday Night Live as a teen and began writing comedy when she was still at Andrews. After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, with a degree in communications, she went to Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where she earned her graduate degree in screenwriting.

While in Los Angeles, she performed with The Groundlings improvisational troupe, then went on to write for Foxs MADtv and King of the Hill before she landed the writing gig at Saturday Night Live in 2001. She stayed with SNL for nearly 10 years and also has written for NBCs Parks and Recreation.

In addition to her hopes for Up All Night, Spivey and Rudolph have had numerous discussions about writing a movie together -- a comedy, of course.

(Writing comedy) can be stressful and a lot of work, she said, but its fun. And ultimately, youre getting paid to sit around and laugh all day.

This article appeared in Tuesday's edition of the High Point Enterprise.